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Thread ID: 116134 2011-02-18 03:41:00 Cannot boot into xp JaceNZ (16238) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1179491 2011-02-18 03:41:00 getting disk error - press ctrl-alt-del to continue

reinstalling from scratch doesn't work - get same error. Windows 98 works but if we try and install xp again we get the same error every time the computer boots fom the hard drive. This happens on both hard drives we've tried.

with thanks
J.
JaceNZ (16238)
1179492 2011-02-18 11:49:00 Possibly hard drive/s is/are damaged/corrupt (bad sectors), try booting into Recovery Console and running chkdsk /r
www.computerhope.com
www.computerhope.com

Perhaps if you start by deleting all partition/s, and setting it/them up again with fdisk, then formatting, and then try installing XP.

You're not trying to upgrade from 98 to XP are you?
You could also have a motherboard problem, how old is this computer?
feersumendjinn (64)
1179493 2011-02-18 20:48:00 It's fairly old - DELL 4400. I've used FDisk and formated and chkdsked /f /r. It was running XP then died. Turned out the previous repairer left the new disk unplugged and the old one plugged in. Same thing is happening with the new disk. The only way to get XP installed is to FDISK and Format with Win98 CD (only put DOS boot files on). Then I booted up with XP CD and then installed XP leaving file system intact (did NOT convert to NTFS). Had a search on the internet - this is a common problem. JaceKiwi (2561)
1179494 2011-02-18 20:53:00 It's fairly old - DELL 4400. I've used FDisk and formated and chkdsked /f /r. It was running XP then died. Turned out the previous repairer left the new disk unplugged and the old one plugged in. Same thing is happening with the new disk. The only way to get XP installed is to FDISK and Format with Win98 CD (only put DOS boot files on). Then I booted up with XP CD and then installed XP leaving file system intact (did NOT convert to NTFS). Had a search on the internet - this is a common problem.

you answering your own question??

are you JaceNZ aswell
GameJunkie (72)
1179495 2011-03-01 05:32:00 it worked for a few hours then random problems - suspect motherboard so the hard drives are in another computer - now we have speed on top of reliablilty JaceKiwi (2561)
1179496 2011-03-01 11:45:00 Download and run Memtest86+, could be faulty RAM.

If Memtest finds anything, try taking the RAM sticks out and cleaning the contacts. Sometimes that can help...
Agent_24 (57)
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